Apparatus for cutting concrete and the like



A. 0. CROZIER. APPARATUS FOR CUTTING.CONCRETE AND THE LIKE.

' APPLICATION FILED FEB. 8, I919. 1,405,671. Patented Feb. 7, 19.

3 E -SHEET 1.

A. 0. CROZIER. APPARATUS FOR CUTTING CONCRETE AND THE LIKE. 7APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3,1919.

1,405,671 I Patented Feb. 7,1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

6 3 33 Q :T I

amen I 0 A. O. CROZTER.

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING CONCRETE AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-8.1919.

1,405,671 Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- vg/2r an. M

UNITED] STATES,

ALFRED OWEN CROZIER, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING CONCRETE AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent. .Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

Application filed February 8, 1919. Serial No. 275,696.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED OWEN CRO- zmma citizen of the United States,temporarily residing at New York city, county and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forCutting Concrete and the like, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

This invention relates to the manufacture of cementitious or concretearticles, such as brick, tile, pipe, building blocks, etc. Moreparticularly it relates to the manufacture of such articles by methodsin which a shaped mass or body of concrete of rectangular, circular orother suitable cross section is formed and then out up or subdividedinto smaller articles. The body or mass of concrete from which suchportions are severed can "be conveniently produced by the so-calledcolumn method. In this method an upright hollow shaft or container isprovided, of which at least the lower portion has the desired crosssectional size and contour. The shaft is filled with (preferably) wetconcrete, 'up to such height that the weight of the superincumbent massupon the lower portion will exert a marked compacting, or densifying,and unwatering effect on the lower portion, from which latter successivesections are removed, the column in the shaft descending after eachremoval and being maintained at the proper height by the continuous orfintermittent addition of fresh concrete of suitable consistency. Aconvenient and effective apparatus for practicing the method thusbriefly outlined is described in my Patent No. 1,330,172, issuedFebruary 10, 1920, to which reference may be had for a more completeexplanation and which is hereby made apart of the present disclosure. V

Heretofore my practice has been to use one or more knives toseverand'cut up or divide the more or less compacted portion of thecolumn. A clean cut is thus produced, with the additionaladvantage thatthe movement of the knives, has a trowelling effect on the surfaces oftheconcrete articles, making said surfaces denser and less porous. Theknives, however, suffer considerable wear, and for certain purposes'cuts that are to be made.

I have therefore been led to devise my present invention, which has forits chief object to provide improved means for. cutting concrete, bywhich surfaces of practically any desired de ree of roughness can beproduced, and w ich, when worn out, can be replaced at small expense. Tothis and other ends the invention consists in the novel features andcombinations hereinafter described. In its preferred form my improvedcutting device operates inthe manner of a saw, and consists preferablyof two or more wires twisted, woven or braided together and supported inany convenient and suitable manner; Each set of twisted, braided, orwoven wires may be conveniently termed a cutter, and one or a pluralityof cutters may be provided, according to the number. of

It will be understood that cutters of this type arefintended to operateonly on concrete or other cemenp titious bodies which have notcompletely set and hardened. Partial setting and hardening by no meansmakes their use impossible or even impracticable.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which several embodiments ofthe invert tion are illustrated,

Fig. 1 shows in perspective a rectangular body of concrete, for examplea section severed from the lower portion of a cementitious column formedin the manner illustrated in Figs. 11 7' and 12. The said body is. shownresting on a suitable pallet or other support, and it. is assumed thatit is to be cut up or divided into smaller articles, in the presentinstance bricks.

Fig. 2 illustrates asimple embodiment of the invention and indicates themanner in which it is used. Fig. 3 is a detail view showing a cuttercomposed of two wires twisted together.

Fig. 4 is a detail view showing a cutter com osed of three wires braidedtogether.

Fig. ,5 is a detail view showing a cutter comp sed m a h Fig. 6 is adetail View showing a cutter (1n the present instance two wires twistedtogether) provided with knots? in the form plaster, stucco, or otherfacing. This figure 7 also illustrates a simple and effective method ofsecuring and tautening the cutter in its frame.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing a simple embodiment of theinvention in which a plurality of cutters are provided, for making alurality of cuts simultaneously.

*ig. 8 is an end elevational view showing the bricks produced by cuttingup a concrete body such as is illustarted in Fig. 1.

ig. 9 is a vertical section of a powerdriven manually controlledembodiment of the invention.

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic view in vertical section, illustrating thecolumn method of making concrete articles, with cutting dey vices of thekind provided by my present in vention, for the severing of successivesections from the lower portion of the column. F 12 is a. sectional planview in the plane of the slot 44, Fig. 11.

The cutter employed in my present invention may be made in various ways.For ex- 7 ample, it may consist simply of two or more w1res,-sa.y piano.wires ofsuitable gauge twisted. together as indicated in Fig. 3. Ifmorethan two wires are used they may be twisted together, or they may bewoven together, or, braided, as illustrated in Fig. 4. In general thethicker the wires, and the 1 tighter they are twisted, braided, orwoven,

' the more material the cutter will remove in the'sawing operationandthe wider will be the cut or kerf, and accordingly these factors shouldbe kept in mind in designing cutters for use with a given apparatus ormethod for producing the. body of concrete which is to be severed or cutup. The invention is not limited, however, to the use of cutterscomposed of wires. Other forms may be used, as for example, a chain,asin Fig. 5.

In the device illustrated in Fig. 2, the cutter 10 is securedina frame11 of the hacksaw type, having a handle 12 by which it can bemanlpulated. One end of the cutter can be" fastened to the frame inanyconvenient manner, as for example, by wedging it in a narrow V-shapedslot 1n the handle end of the frame and wrapping it around. the part inwhich the slot is formed. The other, end

- can be inserted into asplit socket member 13 (see also Fig. 6)provided with aftapered thread 7 to receive a binding nut 14. The member13 extends throughan opening 15 in the frame and is providedfwith a wingnut 16 by which the device can be drawn outwardly and the cutter therebytensioned and made suitably taut. That is, it may be actually tensioned,orit may even be slack. in the latter case the pressureexerted in makingthe cut puts the cutter under slight but suflicient tension.

In the device shown in Fig. 7 a simple frame 17, of rectangular form, isprovided, and is equipped with a plurality of cutters. The frame mayconsist of two pieces of pipe secured at their ends to flat strips 18.If necessary or desirable, vertical guides for the cutters may beprovided, to insure'accurate spacing and parallelism of the cutters andalso to keep the edges of the bricks sharp and clean-cut byreventingbits of material from being torn off by the reciprocatingcutters. Y For such purpose a closely fitting form 20 may be used,having vertical slots 21 in which the cutters can work.

Scoring or grooving of the surfaces of the articles can be effected,simultaneously with making the cut, by providing the cutter with knotsor other suit-able projections, as for example, the rivets or studs 22with pointed heads shown in Fig, 6. If the'progress of the cutterthrough the concrete is rapid in comparison with the speed and range ofits reciprocation, the projections will form wavy grooves or scorings inthe sides of the bricks, as will be readily understood. the other hand,by increasing the speed or range-0f reciprocation, or both, or bydecreasing the pressure on the cutter so as to diminish the speed of thecut,in short, by suitable variation of any one or moreof these factors,practic-ally any degree of surface roughness can be produced, as will bereadily understood. This is a' highly advantageous feature, as itaffords secure anchorage for mortar, and also for plaster. stucco, orother facing and therefore permits the same to be applied directlyto thebricks or other products instead of requiring the use of metal lathingor other intermediate support as has been cufiomary heretofore. In Fig.7 the cutters are shown equipped with scoring, grooving or rougheningdevices 23. but it is to be understood that devices for such purposescan be employed in other embodiments of the invcn- I posed of two chainsbetween which is an elevator 26. The latter comprises a verticallymovable support 27 which can descend by gravity in a guide 28 and can beraised at will by means of 'a horizontally movable wedge-block 29actuated'by a hand lever 30 through the medium of a suitable connectinglinkage 31. Above the conveyer (the upper reach of which travels onsupporting rails Or guides 32 to prevent sagging) is a suitable frame Atthe upper and lower corners of the frame are journalled four elongatedpulleys or rollers 34, grooved circumterentially as at 35, to receivethe cutters 36 which are in the form of endless belts, resembling bandsaws in operation and effect. One of the rollers is equipped with adriving pulley 37 to receive a driving belt 88. V

The 'conveyer 25 being at rest, with a loaded pallet 24 directly abovethe elevator 26, the operator advances the wedge-block 29, therebylifting the pallet ofl the conveyer and bringing the concrete articleinto contact with the lower reach of the moving cutters 36. When thecutting operation is completed the block 29 is retracted, therebyallowing the pallet to descend until it again rests on the conveyer. Thelatter now advances, carrying the pallet to the position shown at'theright (whence it is removed over the side of the conveyer) and carryingthe next pallet, with another large article upon it, into position overthe lifting device 26. If necessary or desirable,the'concrete bodies onthe pallets can be supported laterally by slotted frames 20 as in Fig.7, to prevent or diminish tearing or roughening of the edges as beforeexplained. In the operation of the machine the interstices of thecutters tend to collect concrete which, hardening more or less rapidly,may accumulate to such an extent as to impair the work of the cutters.To prevent such results 'I' provide in the upper part of the trame areceptacle 39 containing water, into which the travelling cutters arecarried in their upper reach by idler guide-rollers 4O. Across thereceptacle or trough is a brush 41. The cutters are thus continuouslywashed and scrubbed. and thereby freed of all adhering material, so thatthey are always clean when they enter the concrete article. Theconveyer. as 25,which delivers the articles to the dividing machine, canbe operated by any convenient and suitable means. not shown, preferablyunder the control of the attendant so that he can regulate the rate ofdelivery according tothe rate at which the articles are being cut up.

Tn the so-oalled column method of making concrete articles, illustrateddiagrammatr callv in Figs. 11 and 12,'a hollow; upright shaft orcontainer'43 is provided, which is filled with wet concrete to a heightSuch that the weight of the upper portion of the column will exer t'onthe lower portion a marked compacting and 'unwatering efi'ect. By wetconcrete as the term is herein used, I mean a mixture of cement, inertmaterial (for example sand), and water in excess of the amount neededfor complete hydration of the cement. The compacting or densifyingeffect mentioned eliminates the excess' water from the lower portion ofthe column (the water largely escaping upwardly in theshaft) but leavesin such portion enough water for satisfactory hydration; The bottom ofthe shaft is closed by a removable pallet or closure 24, on which thecolumn rests, and above the pallet, at a height depending on the size ofthe concrete articles which are to be produced, the shaft has ahorizontal slot 44 to admit the'device by which the'more or lesscompacted lower portion is severed from the rest of the column.According to the present invention this severing device may be a cutterof the type hereinbefore described, for instance, one composed oftwisted or braided wires, as 45, carried by a frame 46 of any suitableform and construction which can be moved transversely of the column andat thesame time reciprocated laterally to give the desired sawingeffect. If it is found necessary or desirable to support the upper partof the column until the severed section is re moved, theirame 46 may beprovided with a transverse plate 47 in rear of the cutter 45, softhat asthe latter progresses it is followed by the supporting plate. 'After thesevered section is removed (in the present instance downwardly bylowering thepallet) an empty pallet is placed under the shaft, and theframe 46 is suddenly retracted to the position shown' in Fig. 12,whereupon the column, no longer supported, descends upon the pallet witha powerful impact. which further compacts the section which is next tobe severed. If desired. another cutter,

as 45 may be provided. In such case, as-

suming that in Fig. 12 the frame 46 was moved in the direction of thearrow to make the cut, the subsequent removal of the supporting plateisjefi'ected by further movement in the same direction. In the nextoperation the frame moves in the opposite direction and the othercutter, 45 makes the cut. Then the supporting plate is removed byfurther movement in the same direction, to the position shown in Fig.12. This construction makes it unnecessary to move the severing devicein two directions in the same cycle.

I may use one or more cutters of the type herein described, t,o dividethe severed part or section of the column into smaller articles beforeremovalfrom the shaft. For this purpose theportion 48 of the shaftbelowthe Blot- 44 is provided with one or more verticalv slots, as 49,according to the number of bricks or other articles into which thesevered body is to be divided. A corresponding number of cutters 50 arearranged to work in these slots, being carried by a frame 51 (notshownin Fig. 12). by which they can be raised, and simultaneouslyreciprocated lengthwise. hen the column descends. the verticallyoperating cutters occupythe position indicated. in Fig. 1 on the pallet24. They may be operated before or after, but preferably after, thehorizontal cutter has done its work. Suitable mechanism may be providedfor actuating the horizontal and vertical cuttersby power, as forexample, the mechanism illustrated in my copending application Ser. No.383,501.

' If ordinary band or circular saws are used the-smooth sides thereoftend to smooth or slick the sides of the articles by a trowel.- ling,efiect, "instead of giving them the roughness or texture desired; andproduced when cutters of thetype herein described are employed.Moreover, the use of a single wire cutter, such as is common for cuttingclay products, is impracticable when the concrete is sothoroughlycompacted by the colurnnmethod or otherwise as to eliminatemost of the excess water and adjust or dovetail together'the sharpangles of the cement-coated sand; but thecutter herein described will gothrough the concrete easily and with little strain on the wires, sincethe twists orbends of the wires dislocate and rearrange the individualsand particles where the cut or slot is being made, and either push theparticles back into the concrete and out of the way, or carry themforward and out of the cut. I

:It-is to be understood that the invention is, not limited to the formsherein specifically illustrated and described, but can be embodied inother constructions without departurefrom its spirit. The appendedclaims describe the cutter as composed of wires twisted together, butsuch claims are intended to cover equivalents, particularly braidedwires, woven wires and chains.

Iclaim: r v

1. A device for cutting compacted and densified concrete, comprising acutter composed of wires twisted together, and means for supporting the.cutter and permitting actuation thereof in the manner of a saw.

2. A device for cutting compacted and densified concrete, comprising acutter composed of wires twisted together, means for supporting thecutter and permitting actuation thereof in the manner of a saw, andmeans for tensioning the cutter.

- 3. A device forcutting compacted and densified concrete, comprising acutter com posed of wires twisted together and provided with lateralprojections adapted to wer 9. .rwghen heu a e Q fih c n ete,

and means for supporting the cutter and permitting actuation thereof inthe manner of. a saw.

4. A cutter for cutting or dividing bodies of; compacted and .densifiedconcrete, consisting of a plurality of wires 'twistedto-j gether andheld suitably taut. 7

5. In an apparatus for cutting compacted and densified concrete, incombination, a support for a concrete article, one or more cutterscomposed of'twisted wires, means for driving the cutters longitudinally,means forpreventing fraying of the edges of the cut or cuts where thecutter or cut ters emerge-from the concrete, and means for producingrelative movement of approach of thecutters'and said support to cut theconcrete article on the latter.

6. In an apparatus for the purpose de scribed, in combination, avertically movable support for a concrete article, one or more cutterscomposed of twisted wires arranged above the support, means for drivingthe cutters longitudinally, and means for raising the support to bringthe concrete article thereon into engagement with the cutters; V

7-. In an apparatus for the purpose de scribed, in combination, asupport for a concrete article, one or more endlessband cutters composedof twisted wires arranged above the support, means for driving thecutters longitudinally, and means for producing relative movement ofapproach of the cutters and the support to cut the concrete article 'onthe latter.

8. In an apparatus for the purpose described, in combinatio'n,a supportfor a concrete article, one or more cutters composed of twisted wires,means for driving the cutters longitudinally, meansfor producingrelative movement of approach of the cutters and the support to cut theconcrete article on the latter, and means for. preventing fraying of theedges of the cut or cuts where the cutter or cutters emerge from theconcrete, said means comprising a housing enclosingthe concrete andprovided with one or more-slots to permit the passage of the cutter orcutters.

9. In an apparatus for the purpose described, in combination, a supportfora concrete article, one or more endless band cutters, means fordriving the cutters, and means for producing a relative movement ofapproach between the cutters and the support to cut the concretearticleon the latter.

10.. In an apparatus scribed, in combination, a plurality" of par-'allel cutters, means for actuating the same for the purpose de- V cutswhere the cutter or cutters emerge from the concrete, said meanscomprising a housing enclosing the concrete and provlded with one ormore slots to permit the passage of the cutter or cutters.

11. In an apparatus for. the purpose described, in combination, a cuttercomposed of twisted wires, means for actuating the same lengthwise, andmeans for cleaning the cutter of adhering concrete as the cutter 13. Inan apparatus for the purpose described, in combination, an endless bandcutter composed of twisted wires, means for contain a liquid throughwhich the cutter passes as it travels, and a brush arranged to engagethe cutter.

Y 14. In an apparatus for the purpose described, in combination, anendless band cutter composed of twistedwires, supporting devices for thecutter providing upper and lower reaches, means for driving the cutter,a liquid receptacle below one of the reaches, means for carrying thecutter in the latter reach through the receptacle, and a brush arrangedto engage the cutter in its travel through the receptacle.

In testimony. whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

ALFRED OWEN CROZIER.

